If your little builder is dreaming of bulldozers, dump trucks, and cement mixers for their upcoming birthday bash, they'll really DIG this cake. It's perfect for a beginner or a busy parent and kids absolutely love it!
Owen’s fascination with cats and dogs inspired his second birthday party. His celebration was much smaller this year, but that didn’t stop me from going overboard with the kitten and puppy theme. And most importantly, Owen had a grand time with his very close family and friends. The planning began with the kitten and puppy …
I had a great time planning and hosting Owen's jungle theme first birthday! Seriously, I love to do this party stuff... especially the dessert table!!! I made this bunting banner with scrapbook paper and then displayed in on a large picture that I wrapped with a neutral gift wrap. Gahhh, I couldn't wait any longer to show you this super cute snake! I just sliced sub sandwhiches into small appetizer size pieces and laid out the pices with a litte curve to them on the food table to look like a snake. I used toothpics to put on the olive eyes and cut a red pepper to look like a tongue. So easy and so cute! Here's an over-view of the food. Main table is snacks and drinks and the buffet to the left is desserts I hung some streemers from the ceiling and cut a few jungle leaves from scrapbook paper to jungle the place up a bit :) A closer look at the food table. Mostly veggies and fruit so guests were able to justify splurges at the dessert table - haha! I attached zebra scrapbook stickers to one of my punch jars and simply poured in green hawaiin punch and pepple ice (I buy pebble ice at Sonics) for this fun colored "jungle juice" For the water bottles I removed the labels and then wrapped the bottle in zebra packing tape. This was also really simple to do and I love the impact it makes! Finally a shot of the desserts!!! The cake pops were pretty darn cute! At least it was pretty easy to tell what they were supposed to be :) tigers lions and monkeys! I have the bakerella cake pop book and used that for my directions with just a few tweeks. Of course you can't have a party without cupcakes (at least not in this household!) The cupcakes were vanilla or chocolate with a marshmallow creme filling and green-vanilla buttercream - YUM! The cupcake toppers were actually dollar store stickers that I stuck on scrapbooking paper and cut around. I hot glued the cut outs to toothpics to finish them up. Animal crackers were a must for this jungle party! THE CAKE: This adorable monkey cake is a very yummy banana cake with chocolate buttercream. I found the directions for decorating it here and just made a few changes... for instance I made mine a double layer... cause doesn't that sound soooo much better than just one layer of delicious banana cakes?? I found the banana cake recipe here and I would highly recommend trying it out for yourself! Owen also had a little chocolate smash cake to enjoy. He started out nice and slow but then mommy got involved and things went crazy! must eat more cake A very happy sugar-high birthday boy: love him! Just can't believe how fast a year has gone by, I remember when this little dude was born as if it were just a few weeks ago... sniff sniff. Yay for happy memories!
My son just turned the big O-N-E, I can't believe he is already one and walking all over the place, they grow up so fast. For his fi...
Outrageously fun pop rock experiment kids will ask to try over and over again. Use worksheet to record balloon science results!
Take the stress out of planning your kids' birthday party with over fifty easy birthday party games for kids! Lots of game ideas for kids birthday parties.
Want to create a kids construction party theme, take a look at our fun games and D.I.Y activities to add tons of fun to your theme party
We know we have a lot of favorites when it comes to parties we have helped plan but we definitely love the decor that was put into this party. It was a low-key, intimate party at a home and our clients still managed to make the party grand. The party was a Disney Cars themed party and the lucky little boy was turning three. The decor was simplistic yet made a grand impression. Red, yellow and green balloons guided the guests through a hallway with a racing lane laid across the floor. The party had different areas designated with personalized menus: (1) Drink station; (2) Vegan food station; (3) Main entrees station; (4) Ice Cream station. Personalized stationary made by us helped to tie the theme together like the traffic ice cream cones, personalized monograms, Rusteze Ointment drinks, water bottle labels, "Riley" Cars logo sign, ice cream topping monograms, and birthday sign. The Ice Cream Station was a hit and absolutely delish to look at and eat! A hit with the guests were the photo booth stand which featured Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater's car cutout as the framing and cute props to take pictures with. Love love love! Photo booths have become such a hit at events in the recent years, and this shows how easy and fun it can be to make one yourself. Last but not least, we cannot forget the invitation that set the mood for the party to begin with. The invite card was designed personally for the birthday boy with Lightning McQueen and the Piston Cup as the foundation. It was enclosed in a booklet fold that featured Lightning McQueen's eyes on the front. The invitation was then placed in a racing red envelope with personalized guest labels. This party was extremely well planned and had a lot of fun and unique ideas. This is one lucky birthday boy! Happy Vroomin Birthday!
CHOO CHOO... tons of crafty train party ideas coming though! From a homemade cardboard train (complete with steam engine!) dubbed the "Z-Express" to
Having a pokemon party and looking for some fun and great ideas for the kids to take home as party favors? We have gathered up some of the best pokemon party favor ideas. These ideas are sure to be a hit with the kids. There are so many fun ideas for pokemon party favor ideas.
MY DAUGHTER’S INVISIBLE BEST FRIEND Let me tell you a bit about my eldest daughter’s best friend, “Joonie”. Sometimes she’s 3 years old, other times 5. Sometimes she…
It's only been...oh...three months since I threw this party for my son's second birthday, but I am so happy to finally be sharing it in a su...
I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I really do enjoy it. But man, can it suck up a lot of time (that I don't have!)...and it creates in me a sort of lust for things that I don't need. But it sure does make party planning easier! About 4 months ago, my friend Lindsey told me about this birthday party she had just attended that was a construction theme. She thought it would be perfect for Jadon. My initial reaction was ambivalent. It sounded cute, but I didn't want to just copy someone else. But then I started thinking about it, and it was true. Jadon loves all things tractors/tools/destruction. And then I got on Pinterest...and oh. my. goodness. I was hooked! So, here is what we came up with. (I take no credit for any original ideas. Check out my Pinterest board to get to my original sources.) First, I had to decide on graphics and invites. I found several that I liked: The first one was my first choice...until I found the second one, and liked the orange stripes and yellow truck and number at the top better. But Jadon doesn't really care about dump trucks, he likes tractors...So then I found the third one, which fit the bill, but I still liked the bold graphics of the second one better. Bottom line, none of them were perfect. So what did I do?... I decided to design my own! (duh. What any normal person would do, right? Okay, maybe not. I'm a little crazy like that.) So I dove into youtube videos and online tutorials for Photoshop, and ultimately came up with this: And then on the back I was able to personalize it, too, asking guests to consider bringing a few dollars to donate to Jadon's World Vision sponsored kid, Misael, instead of bringing a gift for Jadon. I discovered these orange envelopes I bought on clearance (for some reason?) years ago, and added the cute little tractor graphic on some address labels, and whalaa! I think I still like Invite #2 (with the dump truck) better graphically, but I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. If anyone cares, the font I used was called Wicked Grit. It's one of my new favorites! Then, since I had already created the basic graphics, I was able to use it for a bunch of other projects, including a special birthday t-shirt for Jadon (too bad white is such a lousy color for a little boy who loves to get dirty!). Instead of using my beloved Cricut for the typical banner, I continued my Photoshop endeavors and created an easier one using the same graphics: The tractor graphic also was useful to personalize the party favors. I just switched up the colors, added a few layers (including each child's name), and made them into 2" circles, which I then printed onto full page labels and punched out with a 2" hole punch (very valuable purchase!). For the favors, we had cheapo Oriental Trading Company hard hats along with some of Jadon's favorite tools: a hammer from Oriental Trading Company (inflatable for safety's sake!), a tape measure (99c Store), and a flashlight (and batteries, from Dollar Store), plus a construction cone cup (which were probably not worth their $2/each, but they were so cute I couldn't help it!). I stuffed it all in Home Depot aprons, which Home Depot generously provided for free (that was a pleasant surprise!). I just had to call ahead of time so they could order enough. Just another reason why that's my favorite store (besides WallyWorld, of course!). It was so cute to see all the kids having fun with their "tools"! Pinterest was so helpful/annoying at providing tons of great ideas from party decorations other moms came up with. I ended up finding these "Detour" signs at Birthday Express, where I found the cone cups. We bought inexpensive stakes at Home Depot, and then Jim had the idea (miraculous rarity--decorating is not something he enjoys!) to string caution tape (we already had a roll, but you can find it at Home Depot) between the stakes and along the fence. Nice idea, babe! That made a perfect detour away from our front door to the gate to the back yard. We already had a helium tank from a previous party to inflate yellow, orange, and brown balloons. Then we hung the aprons from the fence with signs that said "party area ahead: hard hats required" (didn't get a good picture of that) and "hard hat area." My favorite sign I got from someone else's party. Ha!: I made all the signs on Photoshop, although Publisher would work just as well. I considered printing them somewhere else so as not to be limited to 8" because of paper size (12" would have been so much cooler!)...but printing them at home was so much more cost effective. And of course, the piece de resistance, was my dad's tractor, which set the scene perfectly...and was fun for kids to climb around on. Great timing on that big purchase, dad! I did splurge on the big "Jadon's Birthday Construction Zone" sign. I "designed" it (simply!) in Photoshop on a 20"x 30" canvas, then saved it as a jpeg and had it printed up at Costco for $8.99 (and this month's coupon book conveniently had a $1 off coupon for photo poster prints, yay!). Then I glued it to a basic foam core poster board from Walmart. The whole project came to just over $10. I had a lot of fun with food ideas, again, all copied from others' parties posted on Pinterest. Most of the foods were Jadon's favorites, along with a few things that were just too cute to ignore. Drink station: Utensils as "tools" in a cute tool tote Austin had made me in a woodshop class. For "substantial food," we ordered to sandwich trays from Costco (so good, and so easy!). Carrots and ranch dressing were "bricks and mortar." Mini oranges were "wrecking balls." Wheat Thins and cheese slices were "pavers." Cheez-its were "Builders' Squares." And stick pretzels were "lumber." The sweets side was my favorite. (of course!) My favorite of the favorites was the chocolate-dipped rice krispy treat "paint brushes." So cute! (Oh, and I discovered a handy product made by Wilton specifically for tinting candy coating/chocolate that doesn't change its consistency. Definitely worth it!) We made "soil" out of pudding cups topped with Oreo crumbs and a gummy worm...and a little "dig in" topper on a toothpick. I bought peach licorice for orange "rope" (it was cute, but not as tasty as I'd hoped) and rootbeer stick "beams" (which, if I had it to do over again, I would have called "rebar"). When I ordered the rootbeer sticks, the company accidentally sent me rootbeer rock candy on a stick, so I put those out, too, but couldn't think of anything clever to call them. Another one of my favorite ideas that I gleaned off of Pinterest was chocolate donut "spare tires." Ha. So cute! And then I found these gummy tools at Oriental Trading Company, too. I was going to put them in the pinata, but then I ran out of room, so I put them on the food table...but I think they would have gone better in the pinata. My favorite part of the party was the activities. For some reason, I didn't find as many (easy) entertaining "construction" activities for toddlers to do as I expected, so I had to adapt a little, but I think everyone ended up having fun. Knowing my child, and his "proclivity" toward lack of structure, I tried to think of activities that could be as spontaneous and free as possible. I grouped them in stations that kids could wander between as they wished. Here was our "construction zone" that included building blocks my dad had made (a couple of years ago) out of scrap 2x4s that he cut down and sanded smooth (great free toy for active boys, although the sanding does require time and patience!). The other activity was a "nailing station" using an old styrofoam icechest (I had seen one where each kid was given an individual block of styrofoam, but that was way too pricey for me...especially when Jadon found the old ice chest in our garage!), a cheap bag of golf tees, and a couple of 99c store rubber mallets (which Jadon LOVES to use around the house as hammers, anyway...I figure the rubber is a little safer than a metal hammer...) Good thing Jadon was the birthday boy, because he had far too much fun running up out of nowhere and knocking over other peoples' towers (as seen in the last picture!). We are working on that, but he's on a slow learning curve! Also thanks to Jadon's destructo-man tendencies, you can see the sad state of the icechest by the end of the afternoon! But even the debris proved salvageable. The kids loved hammering tees into the styrofoam way more than I'd anticipated! I also turned a little inflatable pool and 2 orange table covers into a color-coordinated sandbox, that was a non-stop hit all day. Jadon's trampoline was also a fun hit. We filled it with orange, yellow, and brown balloons to start, but those quickly popped and/or floated out. But the kids still enjoyed it. My favorite part was toward the end when only a few kids remained, and Jadon convinced them all to play "shark" with him, using their flashlights as guns. The activity I was most uncertain about was painting. It just seemed like it had the potential to become a huge chaotic mess. On Pinterest, I had found several parties where they painted giant houses made out of cardboard boxes, but that required too much work for me after I discovered these cute little birdhouses in the dollar bin at Joann's Fabrics. I bought a pack of Crayola washable paints, some brushes, and a roll of 13-gal. garbage bags to use as smocks...and then put out the trays of paint with trepidation and apologies to the parents...and I couldn't believe how smoothly--and successfully!--it went. Even the older kids and some of the parents got into it. And Jadon! (Instead of painting a house of his own, I think he just added personal touches to everyone else's!) The only activity we had to "orchestrate" then was the pinata. I had seen this great tutorial for a construction cone pinata...and then personalized it to make my own...and was thrilled with the results. Knowing how rough my child can be, I made it extra durable (with extra layers), but the rope still broke out of the top hole, so if I had it to do over, I would probably lower the rope hole and beef that section up even more. Even so, all the little kids got a chance to swing at it, and even some of the bigger kids...and everyone had fun charging for the loot. (Here's my tutorial for how I made it.) All that was left after the pinata was the cake...a birthday staple that I have relied on Albertson's bakery for the last 2 years but decided to do it myself this year. I bought this super cool pan at Bed Bath & Beyond that allows you to make any letter or number, so I had to make a "3," and then, thanks again to ideas from Pinterest, I decided to turn it into a road. My dad helped to frost it (he used to decorate all of ours growing up...all 6'5" scruff of him!), and I think he did a great job. Because I wasn't sure how many people the cake would feed, I also made cupcakes. Oh! Great cake trick I discovered/attempted for the first time. I'd always heard that you could substitute apple sauce for the oil, but I was always skeptical. Great news: it works! The cakes turned out even more moist than usual, and I think they just tasted better. I also attempted my own buttercream frosting, but it got way too melty way too quickly, so I will definitely be experimenting with some more options there... Jadon couldn't wait to blow out his candles...but then the wind did it for him. Bummer! But he didn't let it phase him, and instead decided to claim the whole cake quickly for himself...along with a couple of cupcakes! (Don't worry, he didn't finish more than a couple of bites!) All in all, I think everyone enjoyed the party, especially Jadon. And I had a ton of fun putting it together. Special thanks to Sam Jeet, who photographed the event! Even though I still had to play with my new camera, it was nice to be able to relax knowing that someone else was there to capture key moments. If you live in the San Diego area, I would highly recommend her services. Oh, and besides having a ton of fun, we raised almost $100 for Jadon's World Vision sponsored kid, Misael. People tended to ignore the suggestion to not bring Jadon any gifts, but they were more-than-generous with both boys. It will take a few months for World Vision to tell us how specifically the money will be used, but it will definitely be a blessing to Misael, his family, and his community!
Very Hungry Caterpillar party ideas, supplies, decor, tips, recipes, food ideas, desserts, party activities, stationary, invitations, printables and more!
How much would your little superhero fan love these easy Batman Peanut Butter Sandwiches!? So easy to make and perfect for a Batman themed or Superhero themed party! You guys, I can't even begin
Summer is here and watermelon is in season! I'm not sure about your household, but I think we go through a watermelon a week...easily. While they aren't the funnest things to cut up, I am willing to make the sacrifice because of their natural sweet deliciousness. After a lot of practice, I have become quite
Celebrate a birthday with these charming mini-party-hat toppers made out of cupcake wrappers and mini-pom-poms! Choose from the drop-down menu for a set of 6 or 12 hats. Hats are approx. 2 1/4 x 1 inch. **Please note there will be variations from the pictures above, as each set is made to order from my ever-expanding collection (can't stop, won't stop) of pretty, patterned and solid cupcake liners (last picture). Feel free to request more pinks and reds for girls, or more blues and greens for boys, if you'd like, in the "Notes to Seller" section when you check-out. Please check with me first if it's a very specific request so that I can make sure I can fulfill your requests. Otherwise, it is a totally random assortment of colors, patterns and pom poms. These toppers are based on a project I created for Oh Happy Day - you can see it here: http://ohhappyday.com/2013/01/mini-party-hat-cupcake-toppers-diy/ SHIPPING OPTIONS: Items can ship: Via 2-3 Day Priority USPS Mail. I'm in NY, so depending on where you live, it will take 1, 2 or 3 days to get to you. Tracking number included! OR Via First Class USPS. NEW! Now offering First Class Shipping via USPS for $3.75. Please be advised that there is no insurance and no tracking for First Class packages, and I cannot guarantee how long it will take for your package to reach you. This option is good if you are not in a rush!
Minion birthday party food ideas with free printable minion party food signs! Grab these minion party ideas and the free party printable!
Ideas for a Superhero Birthday Bash that are Unforgetable! Throwing a party for a little one who loves superheroes?
Last Saturday, my little guy turned 3. I can't even believe I'm saying that, because it just doesn't feel like that long ago that we were bringing him home for the first time! I am guilty of going a little...
There are plenty of games you can plan for an indoor party. I compiled a list to get you started on indoor party games for kids ages 3-5 years old!
Minion party ideas for any Minion fan on their birthday! Easy, fun and inexpensive to make. #MinionBirthday #MinionPartyIdeas #MinionFruitPlatter
Looking for some fun construction themed party games for your construction birthday party? Here are awesome construction party games + activities.
The best list of 4th birthday party themes for boys & girls. Creative ideas for your 4-year-old's big day - decorations, food, favors and more!
I feel SOOOO lucky to have Sarah from Chachke Designs as a designer for Paperbox Press. These are some pictures from her son's 3rd birthday...
Do you need train party games and activity ideas? We've got lots of ideas for train games and activities for train parties or Thomas the Tank Engine parties.
My son turned ONE! I still can not believe it. I will share his one year update soon, but I wanted to share about his great party we had! I think this one was the best one yet! We did a Disney Cars 1st Birthday theme and had the movie playing in the background. Most of the decorations are from Oriental Trading, a few are from Amazon, and the rest were made. But it was super easy and everything looked so cute. We also didn't break the bank! I made all the food labels. Everyone thought they were so cute. My husband didn't know it was "a thing", but still loved it. And I even have a FREE printable for all of you! We had Chick Hicks Chicken Strips (self explanatory), Luigi's Casa Della Tires (chocolate donuts), Mater's Tow Cables (Twizzlers), Sally's Cozy Cones (Bugle's), and Eat Lightning McQueen's SMOKiEs {recipe}. The little smokies recipe is always a HUGE hit whenever my husband makes it. I was also running out of printer ink so I had to write in on that label. And either everyone came hungry or they just LOVED our food! We also made Sweet Tea (motor oil) and had water for our guests (Filmore's Organic Fuel). You can click HERE and download some FREE printables! :D We also had a veggie platter, homemade guacamole dip {recipe}, and then of course cupcakes. I found the good2grow drinks with the Lightning McQueen toppers at BabiesRUs. Everywhere else was sold out! For little man's outfit, my mother-in-law has an embroidery machine, so we bought the applique for his Disney Cars 1st Birthday shirt from Etsy and then we just paired it with some black pants. He also had Lightning McQueen socks on that I got for a $1 at Target. To decorate his high chair for his smash cake, I just decided to use crape paper cut in about 10 inch strips all the way around and then tied the balloon to the back. I made a banner with all of his monthly pictures I had taken through out the year (seen at the top of post). You can view a video of what I received from Oriental Trading and see what I bought HERE. But here is a list of some of the great deals you can score from Oriental Trading: Disney Cars 1st Birthday Champ Molded Candle Set $2.08 Disney Cars 1st Birthday Champ Cups (8) $1.38 Disney's Cars 1st Birthday Champ Beverage Napkins (8) $1.38 Disney Cars 1st Birthday Thank You Cards (8) $2.28 Race Car Flag Picks I wanted to make some killer games I saw on Pinterest for all the kids to play, but I ran out of time. I did send home goodie bags. The weather was amazing that day, so the kid played outside on our jumper and enjoyed other outdoor activities. It was seriously the best party we have thrown to date! When I post his one year update, I will share more details about the party and more pictures from during the event. Please stay tuned! Do you use Pinterest for your party planning? What did you think of our Disney Cars 1st Birthday bash? What do you think of Oriental Trading? Thank you to Oriental Trading for providing products to help make my baby's day so special.
Monster Snacks Pin to Pinterest Is your home full of little monsters? Whether you are celebrating you little monster's birthday or have no special occasion at all, we wanted to share with you these delicious, fun
Aaron had a fun musical themed birthday party. His cake was made to look like a keyboard. It’s definitely not to scale, but it’s so cute for a 4 year old! All the buttons and keys we…
Wandering around, looking for woods and greenery that grows? If so, this Woodland Adventure Birthday Party will truly put on a show! Garnished with details rustic and sweet, this birthday bash by Jenna Deschamps of Perfect Party...in a Box, out of Muskoka/Ontario/Canada, is a woodland treat! So follow the trail and watch your step and check out the following, favorite details, dying to be met: Woodland Animal Cakes Mushroom Cupcakes Bear Plates + Table Settings Hedgehog Doughnut Holes Moss Runner + Number Backdrop Birch Tree Stumps Woodland Tee Pees Fern Centerpieces
If your kids request a Super Mario Bros. birthday party, look no further for ideas! Everything you need is here in one post, including free printables!
Do you have a Junior Palentologist on your hands? Boys and girls who love dinos are going to LOVE these these 30+ ideas for a Dinosaur Birthday Party!